Home Movie Reviews

Home Alone tells the story of Kevin McCallister. He's one of the youngest memebers of the McCallister family and he gets a lot of crap put on him. The family is planning on going to Florida for a special Christmas. He is left home by accident. The McCallister neighborhood is being hit by robbers. The robbers know the McCallister's are in Florida and plan on taking the house. Will Kevin be able to stop the thieves or will they rob his house? You'll just have to watch that and find out.

Macaulay Culkin is awesome in the movie. It's one of the best movies he ever did, and for a while he was a house hold name in the early 90's. He did such a good job playing Kevin. After watching it I think half the kids in America wanted to be left Home Alone to see if they could stop bad guys. I know I did.

Joe Pecsi is funny in the movie. I think it's one of the better roles he ever did. He doesn't do a lot of family films. Joe will leave you in tears as you see him and his partner endure the beating they take.

Home Alone is a great family film. It's a great christmas film. Every kid in the world should see this movie. I love this film and am glad it's on DVD in this special eddition. I garuntee your family will love it.

It shows those thoughts and viewpoints of their industry over about a five year or six year period going back to the same hooker more than twice in some cases.

This documentary is not erotic; while yes some of the hookers are good looking...the lifestyle they lead isn't beautiful.

Why I rate this a five star project and claim it as the best documentary ever, is due to the way that the hookers are so open with their thoughts, stories and pain that they go through.

Buy this movie it's a keeper.

This is a superlative film, beautifully directed by David Anspaugh, about a great basketball coach whose initial coaching career was derailed by his Achilles heel. It is a story about the effect that one may have on the lives of others. It is a story about being given a second chance. It is a story about hope. It is a story about redemption. It is a story about community. It is a story about overcoming all odds. Quite simply, it is a film that will not fail to capture the viewer, heart and soul.

The setting for the film is the nineteen fifties and appears to be based upon a true story. Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) has a skeleton in his closet and is given a second chance at coaching. Buried deep in the cornfields of Indiana is the small town of Hickory, which has a very small high school with a basketball team called the Hickory Hucksters. Coach Dale takes this team and tries to ensure that the players are all grounded in the fundamentals of the game, as their idea of basketball had been to just point and shoot. He wants to make it a team of which all can be proud. His hardline approach meets some initial resistance that causes his best player to leave the team, but even he eventually returns to the fold. This is not, however, just a film about a basketball team's struggle to make it to the state championship.

This being a small town, Coach Dale, as an outsider, runs into some small town politics that threaten to run him out of town. Cooler heads prevail, and he is given his chance to be all he can be. While what he does with the team is remarkable, it is his interaction with others in the town that is even more so. He begins a relationship with the high school's assistant principal, Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey), and brings some passion into her otherwise lackluster existence. He takes Wilbur 'Shooter' Flatch (Dennis Hopper), the town drunk and estranged father to one of the team's key players, under his wing and gives him a new lease on life. Along the way, Coach Dale even manages to give the town a basketball team of which it can be proud. He and the team put the town on the map. How they do it is the crux of the movie.

Gene Hackman is simply sensational as the coach, a man who wants his life back and is given a second chance to grab for the brass ring. He infuses his character with a toughness and, at the same time, a tenderness that make him three dimensional. Dennis Hopper gives a truly remarkable performance as Flatch, the drunk who finds his way out of the bottle long enough to take stock of himself. When Coach Dale sees that he has a lot of knowledge of basketball, he extends him a helping hand. He affords Flatch an opportunity to regain his self-respect and repair his relationship with his son. Flatch responds in a way he had never thought possible. Hopper gives a performance of a lifetime, infusing his character with just the right amount of pathos, vulnerability, and hope. His is truly a bravura performance. Barbara Hershey, as always, gives an excellent performance, impressing upon the viewer the internal conflicts with which her character is struggling. The rest of the supporting cast contribute with fine performances, as well.

This is a great film on many levels and one that is well worth having in one's personal collection. Bravo!

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